Welcome to the iWork4Him podcast. I'm Michael miracle producer of the iWork4Him radio program, the voice of the faith and work movement. Our mission is to transform the workplace of every Christian into a mission field. What does that look like in your workplace? Let's find out right now.

Jim: You've tuned into iWork4Him, the mouthpiece for the faith and work movement. We're your host, Jim Martha Brangenberg.

Martha: Thanks for being with us today. And I just wanna remind you that you can always stay connected with us if you sign up for our weekly email. So just go to iWork4Him.com and you can subscribe and we would love to stay in contact with you that way.

Jim: iWork4Him.com that's I work the number four, him.com.

All right, it's been over nine years, 2200 podcasts, 3,500 people interviewed. IWork4Him has been on the air since the beginning of the podcast craze. And we've covered the amazing work that God is doing within the workplaces of Christ followers all over America. At times both Martha and I have worked two jobs to support this ministry.

And for the last six years, we have worked nonstop to bring you the best interviews and make the best connections for our listeners as our influence has grown within the faith and work world. It's time for a break. Most podcasts release a show a week. For the first seven and a half years we released five shows a week, and then we reduced to just two a week.

And now we're back to doing three a week. We're a little tired. We need to get refreshed and get a clear vision of what God has in store for our future. And the future of iWork4Him along with our podcast brands. iWork4Him. sheWorks4Him. iRetire4Him and the, iWork4Him powerthought, our weekly blog, all those things we bring to you on a weekly basis.

Enjoy some time with us today, as we talk about the value of rest and how we plan on spending the next three months, seeking the Lord in what's next as he breathes a breath of fresh air back into our sails. Martha, it's been quite a journey, hasn't it? 10 years, this November from the day God gave us the name iWork4Him.

Martha: It's hard to believe. And yet at the same time, it feels like it's gone so fast, but I'm pretty sure Jim, we've gotten a few more wrinkles since we started.

Jim: Well, I know my hair was dark when we started and now it's almost all gray, but it has been fun. We've had incredible conversations every day with people just hearing about how they're living out their faith and their work conversations about God, how God has gotten involved in the intimate details of their lives. How can we ever get tired of talking about that?

Martha: Well, I don't actually think we get tired of talking about that. That's one of the things that God has very clearly shown us that we are driven by both of us have that core strength of responsibility and what, how that God has had that play out is that we have the opportunity to hear things that God is doing in other people's lives. And we feel responsible with sharing that with other people, and that is our listening audience. And so it drives us at because it's a strength because it's something that got ingrained in us that, that never gets old.

Jim: Yeah, it has been it's so fun. I mean, we could literally, if we didn't have to do all the other stuff around producing a podcast, we could just capture people's stories all day long. It is so much fun, but it's a certain point in time, sometime in the last 18 months, Martha and I started struggling with what we would call burnout, where we're just having a hard time getting up in the morning to do what we need to do.

It just doesn't feel as fresh as it needs to. And I don't know. Here here's, I'm gonna describe burnout for me, Martha. And we're sharing this with you guys because Martha and I are doers. And many of you are doers where you don't know how to rest. You don't know how to sit and listen to the Lord. And Martha and I in the last two years have produced three books.

We've produced another couple, two, 300 podcasts. We've traveled about 60,000 miles in our little metal tube with four wheels. But burnout feels like to me, like I could keep doing what I do on a daily basis, but if the Lord throws anything new in front of me, I don't know that I have the creative energy to do it.

Martha: You know, it's interesting because that's a, that's such a good, easy, clear way to state it, jim. And I am guessing that we are not alone in this. In fact, I know we're not alone in this because the last couple of years have just exaggerated so many of the things that many of us deal with already, because we're dealing with technology, we're dealing with just extra stress and the unknowns and you know, all of those things that everybody is, is dealing with.

And I just recently listened to, you know, it's amazing how God just gives you certain resources at certain times. I just this week, listende to a podcast from the VOCA center, the VOCA center, like vocation out of New York city, and Chip Roper and his team were actually talking about burnout.

And the fact that so many people, you know, there was everything from when Jim, you just mentioned - lack of creativity and, you know, thinking is it not-

Jim: Well, that's an everyday scenario for me, the lack of creativity.

Martha: That's but, but what they were saying in this podcast that I listened to is that, you know, for some people it is, they just stay up extra late Sunday night because they're just trying to prolong Monday morning coming, or they just,

Jim: We've been known to binge of a little bit of TV on Sunday nights.

Martha: Yes. Yeah. And you know, it was funny cuz Chip even said, you know, for him it became a situation in a season where he was like going to go work out every morning and he was staying longer at the gym because he just had a hard time making that transition to work.

Jim: That's why the last time we saw Chip Roper, he looked so buff.

Martha: actually what he admitted in the podcast was that he was spending most of the time sitting in the hot tub, like, oh, get relaxing and trying to be like, get up his, you know, gumption or whatever. But anyway, it was a, it was a big help for me to hear other people and how they struggle.

So I love that there are other resources out there for people besides iWork4Him. And that's why we have, I don't know, I can segue here to the Awaken Podcast Network because that podcast is on that network so that people have the ability to go and hear what God is saying through other people.

Jim: Awaken Podcast Network.com, that's Awaken Podcast Network.com where you'll find 105 different voices speaking into the faith and work movement, encouraging you to live out your faith in your work.

With lots of different perspectives, online Awaken Podcast Network.com. All right. But why is rest so necessary? We sleep at night. Well get, for the most part, we sleep at night. Well, I sleep at night. We, we sleep, but that's different than rest. Isn't it?

Martha: It is. And you know, it's funny because again, There's been so many people recently, and I think this is just the Lord's doing, he puts things in front of us when we need them.

I've seen so many devotions on rest. And one of the things that I know for sure is that our example, our, our creator had a day of Sabbath. And if, and, and it is so important for us to model as our creator from our creator.

Jim: Well, and here's how, here's how important rest was to our heavenly father. He created Adam and Eve on the sixth day. Their very first full day on earth was the seventh day, the day of rest. So God didn't start them off working. He started them off resting and that's his priority for us. We need to rest because when we rest, we can hear the voice of the Lord more. We can handle those unexpected challenges without an overemotional response.

And, and we can handle the unknown a lot better. We just need to learn to rest. So, so Martha and I are gonna talk about that today. When we come back right here on the, iWork4Him podcast, check us out online. iWork4Him.com that's I work the number four, him.com.

Martha: You know, the kind of person that always tells you about the latest trends or the special deals around town. We'll lean in because here's a message from that kind of person. The Awaken Podcast Network is the place to be. Go to Awaken Podcast Network.com and unlock God's purpose for your work. With help from some friends, you will find a gathering place of podcasts that provides simple tools, faith stories, and conversations that will inspire and equip you to vibrantly live out your faith in your work today. Go ahead. Check out Awaken Podcast Network.com and then be that kind of person and tell a friend.

Jim: Hey, welcome back to iWork4Him as Martha and I talking a little bit about rest today and taking a break. If you're just starting to pay attention, what we're saying, we're gonna take us a season break for the iWork4Him podcast for the very first time in a little over nine and a half years. Never have we done this, but this summer, we're going to do that.

Martha: You know, one of the things that I think is important to us having this conversation with you, our listeners and friends, is the fact it's huge accountability. And the fact is that we're on the front side of this. We, you know, a lot of times you hear a podcast from somebody who's gone through a season of rest or they've learned some new lessons and they're, they've applied it in their own life. And they're saying, okay, now I wanna help others. Well, we're kind of on that front end of it.

Jim: This is what two people look like who desperately need some rest.

Martha: So no comments about us looking tired or anything like that. But anyway, I just think it's, I think it's important. You know, one of the things. We have always done is worn our life right here on the, on our, our sleeve. Is that how you say it? I don't know, but people, we're an open book.

Jim: We're making references to video. You know, if you're trying to figure out on this podcast, what are they talking about? We can't see their face.

Martha: Remember we have a YouTube channel.

Youtube.com/iWork4Him.

Yeah. Just search for it out there and you'll find it. And it's always linked in the show notes as well. So you can switch over to that if you want to. But the, I think that it's just really important. We don't have it all figured out. I think if you guys know us well enough, you know, that that is. Kind of our Mo is like, we're like, okay, we're gonna walk this out and see what the Lord is teaching us. And hopefully it will help you along the way. So that just give you a little context.

Jim: Some things that led to burnout in us: writing three books, traveling 60,000 miles, moving, selling a house, remodeling a house, actually rebuilding a house helping take care of aging parents. Helping a lot of other people with their projects, helping other people write, daily writing blogs, maybe we just, the problem is we just don't ever sit still.

Now. I, I can't rest when I read read books, but a lot of times I read books for the show, which again means I can't just read the book to have fun. I need to pay attention to it cause we're gonna ask people questions. And, and so that is something that we've really, I'm going to do a lot more this summer. I'm just gonna read ridiculous books that don't, I don't have to pay attention or interview anybody at the end. What about for you Martha? What's led to your sense of burnout?

Martha: Well, I think the same thing in the sense that it is easier in a lot of situations to stay busy than to rest. For me to sit still and, and rest means different things to each person.

And so I, this is something Jim and I are kind of working on right now and figuring out how to navigate. I love doing a, a project is very restful for me. Cooking in the kitchen, having people over, although a lot of people that might seem like work and stress or whatever, that is an incredible avenue for me to find peace and rest, I enjoy the creation process and all of those kinds of things.

So so being just busy, just filling our calendar and, you know, what's funny is that when we started experiencing the pandemic and people's calendars basically didn't even matter anymore because we couldn't go anywhere. We couldn't see anybody. I relished that because I was like, oh, there's nothing that we have to be like watching for time wise or going or whatever.

And I really enjoyed that. And I knew that it was gonna be a danger, especially in America for all of us to fill our calendars back up without even noticing it. And I think that that's happened and I, I know that it's happened.

Jim: And, and for us, it wasn't so much that our calendars got clear because at the same time, I really felt the Lord said, write your books.

Martha: Oh, of course. But it, but we didn't have a appointments. We had appointments with a computer.

Jim: And with a few road trips, but a lot of those road trips got canceled. Then we got to learn how to do video. So we could, you know, we do video on every one of our podcasts now. All right. What could we have done better? I don't know. We probably should have taken a rest every summer for the last nine years from podcasting instead of doing 'em every day. But when you're on radio, you couldn't do that because you have to be on the radio. So I don't know. I think. We, you need people in your life that can sit there and smack you upside the head and go, you know what? Maybe a rest would be a good idea.

Martha: So a little bit more accountability in our lives?

Jim: Yeah. Accountability would be good. And, and would, I'm not sure we would've listened though. Would you have listened to somebody that told us that?

Martha: Well, I think that there have been times in all of our lives where over the people have encouraged rest or slow down or whatever, but I really believe that it is being obedient. And again, the reason we're talking about this is not just to be like talking about our story, but each one of us doing a better job of assessing where we're at and what God is calling us to do. But to, to really listen to his prompting and encouragement to live a biblical life.

Jim: There are lots of biblical examples of people getting rest.

Our savior, Jesus is his name. He was really good about, at the end of the day, he took off to get some rest. He wasn't, I mean, he could have gone night and day from the minute he changed that water into wine for the next three and a half years. He could have been constantly, he could have healed millions of people instead of hundreds of thousands of people.

But he know, he knew that he needed some rest to get refreshed and because he was pouring his life out into people all the time. And so he was a great example for us, but there's many times in the scriptures where people took 40 days to go rest, Moses. Had 40 years in the desert to rest in preparation for 40 years in the desert with the Israelites.

I don't think the first 40 years was probably enough to get ready for the next 40 years. Elijah had 40 days in the desert. Jesus had 40 days in the desert before his ministry started. It's not a requirement of Christianity that your crazy busy all the time. It's a requirement of Christianity that we can sit still and listen to our heaven father. So what's our rest gonna look like Martha?

Martha: That's a great question. God's got, we have some real soul searching to do, but I think the biggest thing, and we talked about this even with our board is the accountability factor and making sure that we are holding to a schedule. Whatever that might look like for each of us is gonna be different but in a way that allows time for the Lord to speak to us and really get some of the rest.

Jim: Do you get the feeling that Martha's not really bought into the way I think rest should be? I'm gonna buy Martha a Velcro chair and a Velcro suit so she has to sit still.

Martha: But I, I, I, I don't think that rest means...

Jim: if you're not sitting still, then I feel guilty.

Martha: Oh, that's your problem. You know, one of the things that it's true,

Jim: said by my loving wife,

Martha: no, but him feeling guilty about how I handle it. I think the biggest thing we do need to be on the same page. Everybody, we understand that, but God created each one of us differently. And so for me, sometimes that's gonna mean weeding the garden and being quiet and enjoying the nature that God has created in for us to enjoy.

Jim: You're listening to iWork4Him with your hosts, Jim and Martha Brangenberg. We'll be right back.

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And welcome back to iWork4Him as we're talking about rest today. In fact, we're talking about the fact that for the next several months, at least two, maybe two and a half, we're gonna have a break for the, iWork4Him podcast.

We're not gonna produce any new ones and Martha, and are gonna take some time to rest and get refreshed and really to hear the voice of God about what is next for iWork4Him. Let me give you an example. When, when iWork4Him went on the air, on the radio and as a podcast nine and a half years ago, there were a couple of podcasts talking about faith and work and there was a couple of radio shows talking about faith and work.

Today in America, there's maybe one or two radio shows still talk about faith and work, but there are now hundreds of podcasts talking about the intersection of faith and work. So the point is, is iWork4Him still needed in its current format? Is there another format we should be doing it at? sheWorks4Him we added last year talking about and focusing on Christian working women. iRetire4Him talking about encouraging Christian retirees. And our daily power thought that you can hear on Facebook, we're working on a way for it to get texted to you.

All of those things take and our weekly blog, are they necessary anymore? Are there other people that need to pick up those pieces or are we supposed to do it, but just do it with some renewed energy?

Martha: You know, I think one of the things that's important in, whether it's a job, a corporation, an organization, a nonprofit, is to be asking yourself that question. Is what I'm doing the best use of our time, or is there a new need?

Is there something that has shifted? Is there something that has changed? Or is our format, you know, is it stale? Is it whatever that might be? We don't want to, you know, you ever have that school teacher that you were like, man, they should have retired. Wow, wow. Five years ago, because they're just like

Jim: Charlie brown.

Martha: Wow. Is that what yours sounded like? Mine was just like, oh, maybe they're not the nicest people anymore. They're just, they're too tired of being teacher. Anyway, I remember having a teacher like that and thinking as a kid, that teacher should retire because they're done. And we don't ever wanna be that way. We wanna stay relevant and most importantly, obedient.

And I think one thing that's really interesting and I wanna, I wanna share this with you all, is that when we were having this discussion, one of the things that I, you know, get in our heads, we think, but we have to have a podcast every week. We, this is an expectation and what are people gonna think?

And one of my friends on Facebook when we were wrestling with this, posted this, this quote or this comment, and it pierced me to the core and I, and it really answered our question for us: when God says to let something go, but your pride says to keep going, there really only is one right choice. #God'sWay. And we have, that is a driving force in us is to do things God's way and to listen to his voice. But you know, in our flesh, sometimes it's E it's easier to hang on and say, yeah, but I don't know what people are gonna think. And are we gonna lose listeners and blah, blah, blah. We have all these think questions we ask in our head.

But our God is bigger than all of that. And we need to walk in that obedience. And I think that that's an area where each and every one of us can learn. You know, because a lot of times we do things, maybe it's a, maybe it's a tradition or the way you do a birthday party or the way you feel like you have to have a certain amount of things, activities you do at your work.

That you know, just fill time, but they're not really helping you further on the goal. What is it in your life that you're sitting there saying, okay, Lord, I'm only continuing to do this because apparently I I'm, I'm proud of it. I feel like others expect it from me, but God's saying it's time to make a change. And, and, and again, I just wanna reiterate, we don't know what it's gonna look like. But, and we just wanna be listening.

Jim: It's gonna involve sleeping in, staying up late binging on a little television, reading some books. But in the meantime, all summer long, you'll still be able to get access to our one minute power thoughts, Martha, how do they get access to them? They can sign up for those now. Right?

Martha: So what they do is just on your favorite podcast platform, you just go and find, iWork4Him powerthought. And there you can subscribe and get it every day. And, and we will be announcing, I know that we're gonna get to where we're gonna our, our dream. And we have the ability now to do it is using a texting service that will actually text you the feed every morning. So when you're getting ready for work, you can get that notification on your phone. Listen to it.

Jim: And of course, every Tuesday, the iWork4Him powerthought will be released and that powerpod excuse me, will be released. And that is one of our previous podcasts smashed down into a really short, succinct manner, capturing all of the most powerful parts of our podcast.

Martha: Wow. That was a lot of powerful parts of the podcast.

Jim: It really was so let's just end with a couple of encouraging words.

Martha: Okay. You know, for me, I think one of the things I wanna encourage is, you know, we were challenged with Hebrews 4 and it is such a great example. It's and in the translation I've been reading and really studying the passion translation, it talks about the rest life. So the, the, the, just this whole idea of the the kind of life that God wants us to have. And I just been really pondering that. So I would encourage you to be reading Hebrews 4 for yourself and asking the Lord, how does that apply in your life?

Jim: And I would just encourage you to take this summer and recognize the opportunities that summer provides. Summer is an opportunity not only for us to live on our faith at work, of course, it's also an opportunity to go on vacation with our families and to celebrate just being with our families without the stress of school and sports and those kinds of things. But also summer is an opportunity to meet your neighbors and to minister, to your neighbors.

What do I mean by minister your neighbors? You know, first of all, just get to know them, get to know their names and their kids names or their parents names or whatever the situation may be, but get to know all of the neighbors that are within couple, two, three houses of you at least. And then look for an opportunity to invite him over for a picnic, because summer is about picnics and food and potlucks.

Those are the greatest things that Americans do. Potlucks are God's gift to America, people! Get to know your neighbors, find out what their needs are. Start praying for them just as you pray every day for your coworkers and employees and bosses start praying for your neighbors. For an opportunity for you to live out your faith in front of your neighbors and look for ways to help them.

Maybe they've got a project going on that's a little bit bigger than they can handle, or maybe it's not something they've ever done before, but maybe you have,. Look for a way to serve them over and above just being a neighbo., being a neighbor, love your neighbor, and look for ways when things get a little rough and pray with your neighbors when they're having a tough time. All along your attitude, your behavior and your neighborhood of excellence of being a loving neighbor is just as important as doing that in your workplace. Take this summer and learn to apply the iWork4Him nation pledge to your neighborhood, Martha.

Martha: Mm. Such a great word. You know, I just would add to that, that your neighbors are those people that you work with as well. And what a great time to invite them over to your home. And you know, share with them, share a meal pray over that meal and open the door to further conversation. And we look forward to seeing what God has in store for us this fall for each and every one of us. In the meantime, feel free to email us. You can use the contact page on our website. Stay in touch. We'd love to hear how God is working in your life this summer.

Jim: Enjoy some rest this summer because we will be as well. You've been listening to iWork4Him with your host, Jim Martha Brangenberg. We're Christ followers. Our workplace it's our mission field, but ultimately iWork4Him!

Did you know that God has a calling on your life? It's true. He's called you to bring Jesus to the world. For some that may look like a pulpit or a foreign mission field, but for most of us, it looks like a construction site, a cubicle, a hospital, or a classroom, wherever it is that you work, live, volunteer, and invest.

That is your mission field. To learn more about integrating your faith into your work in retirement. Check out our books. iWork4Him. sheWorks4Him and iRetire4Him by going to iWork4Him.com/. bookstore.

Thank you for listening to the iWork4Him podcast, with your hosts, Jim and Martha Brangenberg.

Please visit iWork4Him.com to learn more about connecting your faith and work to join the iWork4Him nation or subscribe to our weekly blog. You can also follow us on social media at iWork4Him to stay up to date and meet our guest. If today's message spoke to you, please subscribe, rate, and review the show on your favorite podcast platform.

Your review will launch more workplace missionaries across America. That's at iWork4Him and online iWork4Him.com iWork the number four, him.com.